Five things you should know about copyright

When talking about citations in scientific papers, an important aspect is copyright. It’s common scientific practice for papers to refer to existing research. However, these references must not infringe the rights of the original author. Therefore, you need to keep in mind the following five facts concerning copyright:

1. When somebody creates a text, image, video, piece of music etc., their work automatically is protected by copyright.
2. A copyright symbol isn’t necessary to have a piece of work protected.
3. After a certain period of time, copyright may expire. This means that the piece of work can then be used by everyone.
4. Scientific papers can use copyright materials in order to support their argumentation. Foreign materials must always be marked as such and cited correctly.
5. Every country has its own copyright laws which may differ regarding duration and other aspects.

There are plenty of texts, images etc. – especially on the internet. Please don’t forget that these are still copyright protected. If you would like to use them in your scientific paper, you must cite them correctly.

Why do scientific papers need citations?

An academic or scientific paper should support intersubjectivity, which means that it can be understood and checked by other researchers. On the one hand, this includes a compelling argumentation and a detailed description of the method and steps taken. On the other hand, this means that you must consider previous scientific results and quote all sources which you use for your paper.

All these aspects are summarized under the concept of Good Scientific Practice (GSP).

Good Scientific Practice means that you…

• … critically analyze your methods and results.
• … stay objective and mark subjective comments as such.
• … make sure that your results are comprehensible and reproducible.
• … consider the newest results and alternative perspectives.
• … pay attention to authorship and cite all elements or ideas by other authors.

What is freedom to cite?

Although most scientific texts are protected by copyright, you may use parts of them (e.g. single sentences, paragraphs, or images) for your own academic paper. This is possible because copyright law respects a freedom to cite in scientific papers. However, be aware of the following aspects:

• Quotes need to be analyzed or be part of your argumentation.
• Quotes may not be altered.
• The original source and author must be named.

If you plan to publish your paper, please don’t forget that there’s a difference between submitting a paper at university and publishing it. Particularly sources from the internet often exclude commercial use of texts, images etc. Therefore, it is advisable to check images licenses before you publish your paper online.

Test yourself: What do you know about copyright and citing your sources?

Which pieces of work are protected by copyright?

1. Only a text can be protected by copyright
2. Every unique work a person creates by themselves
3. Copyright protection ends after the publication

    Solution:

   B – Every unique work a person creates by themselves. Copyright protection doesn’t end after the publication of a piece of work.

What does GSP mean?

1. Good Scientific Practice
2. Giant Sorcerer Project
3. Gorgeous Scientific Paper

    Solution:

   A – Good Scientific Practice

What is an important part of Good Scientific Practice?

1. A paper must be published online
2. I should refer to newest insights and cite them correctly
3. I must quote at least 50 sources

    Solution:

   B – You should refer to newest insights and cite them correctly. Whenever you use foreign information or materials, you must cite them correctly.

What is the difference between submitting a paper to your university and publishing it?

1. A publication requires a special layout
2. Papers may only be accepted by my university if they have already been published
3. A publication may serve commercial purposes, which means that all elements of my paper must be released for commercial use

    Solution:

   C – A publication may serve commercial purposes, which means that all elements of my paper must be released for commercial use.

Which qualities should a scientific paper have?

1. Its results must be verifiable by other researchers
2. Its conclusion should be at least two pages long
3. It should include the author’s CV

    Solution:

   A – Its results must be verifiable by other researchers.